East Wind: Vegan Stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed veggies are a staple in Middle-eastern cuisine, they have hundreds of versions and tons of little doors for improvisation. I bet you that every family has something that they do differently that makes the recipe truly unique and special. Mine, for example, has two versions of everything - one heavy on meat and animal products, and one that is strictly vegan. Today, I decided to share the vegan one, because is a personal favourite of mine and is one of the most delicious things ever.
There are a number of vegetables that are suitable to use the stuffing I'm going to present you today. I like the bell peppers the most, because of their amazing sweet meat, but straight peppers, courgettes, and aubergines will do just as well. I usually prefer to use big, round peppers since they are so easy to fill. If you feel like preparing a number of small portions then why not cut the peppers vertically in halves and have more but smaller meals?
Ingredients (for 6 medium peppers):
- 6 medium peppers, the seeds removed from them
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic, in thin slices
- 1 1/2 cups rice, set in hot water half an hour prior
- 1 carrot, pieled and sliced thinly
- 10 small mushrooms, chopped thinly
- 1 cup peas
- 1/2 cup sweet corn
- 1 cup olives, without the pits, sliced in halves
- 4 small well ripen tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup mixed nuts (almonds, peanuts, cashews), chopped in pieces
- 1 1/2tsp cumin
- 2tsp hot chili powder
- 1tsp suggar
- 1tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- hot water
How-To:
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- In a deep pan pour the olive oil and heat up.
- Add the chopped onion and stir in the chili powder.
- When the onion is nice and tender, add the garlic, the carrot, and the mushrooms in.
- Cook until the carrot starts to show signs of getting cooked.
- Add the cumin and stir well.
- Next, add the tomatoes and the sugar. The sugar will prevent the tomatoes of getting sour and it will help them cook better.
- When the tomatoes start to look soft, add the rice as it is, with the water that's been draining in.
- Stir and add the olives, peas and sweet corn.
- Lower the heat and cook until the water is evaporated.
- The rise will presumably need more cooking so add more water, to cover all of the food in the pan.
- Stir occasionally and season with salt and pepper.
- When the rice looks about ready and there is no more water left in the pot, turn off the hob add in the nuts.
- In a deep baking dish arrange the bell peppers and stuff them up with the filling.
- Pour hot water onto the bottom of the baking pan so the peppers' bottoms will be in water.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the outside of the peppers is nice and soft and the skin gets off easily.
- And this is it, serve with a smile and eat in good company!
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| Green or Red, bell peppers are the best! |
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